Kirsti Nelson, the Virtual Treatment Coordinator Program Manager for Dental Implant Machine recently shared that she and her Virtual Treatment Coordinator (VTC) team has had a lot of success in getting patients to start treatment with the offices that they work with. Kirsti shares some of the information she and her team learned and some of the secrets they have learned to help you succeed in making the same thing work in your office.
Pre-qualifying Patients With Lenders Gives Them Hope That They Can Afford Dental Implant Treatment
One of the things we find at this time in the world is a lot of people are worried about the economy and it’s causing people to be hesitant about moving forward with dental implant treatment. One of the secrets we have discovered is that a lot of patients are more successful if we pre-qualify them with multiple lenders. The more lenders, the better. What this does is that firstly, it gives patients options, it makes them feel like they’re in control, that they have the ability to make a choice for themselves in this scenario.
Secondly, what it does is portrays you and your dental team as people that care for these patients, that it’s not about how much money you’re making, rather, you truly want to help them get a new lease on life by creating a brand new smile for them. You need to be empathetic with your patients, and make sure that your patients understand you’re not trying to take a dental issue and turn it into a financial issue for them. That’s not going to help them, but to help them understand that we really do want to get their teeth fixed just like they do.
Start Off With Small Sections of a Patient’s Dental Implant Treatment Plan So They Can See Themselves Affording It in the Long Term
This is why using multiple lenders becomes an advantage for you and your patients. What’s going to happen is the patients are going to see that they’re not stuck with one option. They can look at monthly payment options, where you as an office can see what they can afford on a monthly basis and help them to find the right fit for them financially. Then you can think outside the box as an office by taking the time to say, “Okay, we can work with you on this”. Maybe you will start off with treating a smaller portion of the mouth, maybe an upper first, and then the lower, if they need both. This option gives them hope. They won’t feel like they’re stuck taking out an enormous loan, and that their payments are going to be so astronomical that they don’t see themselves affording it and will be hesitant to move forward with treatment.
Helping Your Patients With the Financial Aspect of Dental Implant Treatment Shows That You Truly Care About Helping Them Get Their Smiles Back
This is something that’s helped a lot of different patients. By helping them recognize that you care about how this is affecting their lives, not only the dental aspect but the financial aspect. If we put them in a situation where they can’t afford dental implants, it’s absolutely not helping them at all. If we’re putting them in a financial bind or something that’s going to make their life stressful in a different way, is not a way that we help them.
Having as many lenders as possible and then pre-qualifying them with those lenders makes a huge difference. Once they see that they pre-qualify, they have options. It opens up a whole new reality to them that they can afford dental implants and then it’s not so out of reach for them. If they look at the bottom line of the amount that it’s going to cost, that can be very stressful and scary and oftentimes makes them not want to even try to move forward. By making this easy on them, making them feel like they have
control by giving them those options makes a huge difference. So make sure you do that for them. Make sure you have those options and that you’re looking for ways that you can help them to move forward with the life-changing dental implant treatment that they need.
